Woodbury High School students donate time tutoring younger kids

Four high school students in Woodbury — three from Woodbury High School, one from the Math and Science Academy — have created an organization called Higher Heights to help tutor younger students who might not be able to have an outside tutor due to current economic conditions.

Anika Tripathi is president and one of the group’s co-founders. She told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS she had an idea to help disadvantaged kids earlier last year and decided to put the wheels in motion in September when the pandemic had complicated things for many students.

“Ultimately, tutoring, in and of itself is a great act and no matter who I tutored I knew I would be happy to help,” Tripathi said. “But, I knew I would really like to help students within our community and those students who might not be in a position to get extra help otherwise.”

Srinath Hariharan, also one of the co-founders, told KSTP the organization’s mission goes beyond the complications of the COVID pandemic, and that they’ve been able to pair 20 students with tutors since last September and are hoping to grow that number.

“Enjoying learning, itself, is a valuable quality and something I have found useful even in my own life,” Hariharan said. “So, if we could even help one student receive a more holistic education, as a result of this venture, then that in itself is a great gift for us.”